Interactive television application with navigable cells and regions

ABSTRACT

An interactive television application with mosaic browsing is provided. Selectable cells that may be associated with entities are used to display information corresponding to the entities. Information may include brand marks such as logos or any other suitable entity identifier. A cell may be in focus or it may not be in focus. When a cell is in focus the information displayed in the cell may be different than the information displayed when the cell is not in focus. Users may navigate among cells. The cells may be grouped into regions based on, for example, their association with similar entities.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/773,883, filed Jan. 31, 2001, which claims the benefit of U.S.provisional application Nos. 60/179,523, filed on Feb. 1, 2000, and60/179,552, filed on Feb. 1, 2000, all of which are hereby incorporatedby reference herein in their entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an interactive television application, andmore particularly, to an interactive television application that maydisplay selectable cells that display information.

Interactive television program guides that allow television programinformation to be displayed on a user's television have been developed.Interactive television program guides allow the user to navigate throughtelevision program information in the form of television programlistings using a remote control.

Existing interactive television program guides generally offer programguide data in a manner that does not place much emphasis on theidentification of entities that are related to program guide data. Forexample, program listings often show information regarding televisionprogramming in a neutral manner (i.e., information does not stand out).In particular, logos (e.g., of broadcasters) are given secondaryconsideration.

Because of the large amount of content that is provided by existingtelevision systems to users, the structure of existing program guidesmakes it difficult to navigate among such a large amount of content. Forexample, cable service providers may offer hundreds of channels oftelevision programming to users. Without an easy way to navigate throughthese channels, it may be impossible for a user to find a televisionprogram that the user would like to watch.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide systemsand methods to present interactive television program guide data tousers such that the interactive television program guide data isdisplayed in an attractive and easily identifiable way. It is also anobject of the present invention to provide systems and methods thatallow efficient navigation to similar interactive television programguide data.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

These and other objects of the invention are accomplished in accordancewith the principles of the present invention by providing an interactivetelevision application in which selectable cells that may be associatedwith entities are used to display information corresponding to theentities.

The selectable cells may be partitions of a display screen. There may beany number of cells on a display screen. The cells may be any size andthe cells may be any shape.

A particular entity may be associated with each cell. Informationcorresponding to the entity with which the cell is associated may bedisplayed in the cell. Cells associated with similar entities may begrouped together in regions. The user may navigate from an individualcell to another individual cell or from a region to another region by,for example, pressing arrow keys on a remote control device.

When navigating among regions, the user may switch to navigate amongindividual cells. When navigating among individual cells, the user mayswitch to navigate among regions.

When navigating among individual cells, one cell may be designated asbeing the cell “in focus.” Typically, when cells are not in focus, brandmarks may be displayed in those cells. When a cell is “in focus,”information other than brand marks may be displayed in the cell. Ahighlight such as a yellow ring may be displayed around the cell “infocus” to indicate to the user which cell is “in focus.”

When a cell is “in focus,” it may be selected. Upon selection, a specialfeature may be initiated. The special feature initiated may depend onwhat type of entity with which the cell “in focus” is associated. Forexample, selecting a cell that is associated with a television channelmay cause the interactive television program guide to display the videoof the currently broadcasting television program of the associatedtelevision channel in full screen.

Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantageswill be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the followingdetailed description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an illustrative mosaic browsing system inaccordance with the principles of one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a system similar to the system of FIG. 1showing how servers may be located at network nodes in accordance withthe present invention.

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative menu screen in which selectable cells aredisplayed in accordance with the principles of one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in thedetermination of information to be displayed in cells.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show illustrative menu screens with highlights displayedaround cells in accordance with the principles of one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIGS. 6A and 6B show illustrative menu screens in which the focus may“jump” or “wrap around” to any suitable selectable cell in accordancewith the principles of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C show illustrative menu screens in which cells maybe grouped together in regions in accordance with the principles of oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 7D and 7E show illustrative menu screens in which highlights maybe displayed around a region or regions in accordance with theprinciples of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows an illustrative menu screen in which indicators may be usedto indicate to the user that there are entities currently not associatedwith cells in accordance with the principles of one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are flow charts of illustrative steps involved innavigating among cells individually and navigating among regions inaccordance with the principles of one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are flow charts of illustrative steps involved inentities associating and disassociating with a cell in accordance withthe principles of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 11A, 11B, and 11C show illustrative menu screens in whichassociations between cells and entities may change in accordance withthe principles of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 12A, 12B and 12C show illustrative menu screens in whichassociations between cells and entities may change when the “page”button is pressed in accordance with the principles of one embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of illustrative steps for the determination ofhow entities are to be associated with cells if the interactivetelevision application is commanded to “page” in accordance with theprinciples of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 14A, 14B, 14C, and 14D show illustrative menu screens in which thefocus automatically moves to another region in accordance with theprinciples of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 shows an illustrative menu screen in which a particular cell mayautomatically be in focus when the user navigates to a region inaccordance with the principles of one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 16 shows an illustrative menu screen in which an overlay thatdisplays operator specified promotional content is provided when a usernavigates to a cell in accordance with the principles of one embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 17 shows an illustrative menu screen in which an overlay thatdisplays a brand mark for the cell to which the user has navigated isprovided in accordance with the principles of one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 18 shows an illustrative menu screen in which information isdisplayed in a portion of the screen in accordance with the principlesof one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 shows an illustrative menu screen in which a menu is displayedin accordance with the principles of one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 20 shows an illustrative screen in which a walled-garden isdisplayed in accordance with the principles of one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 21 shows an illustrative menu screen in which icons are provided tonotify the user of the opportunity to access interactive content inaccordance with the principles of one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 22 is a flow chart of illustrative steps that may be taken toinitiate a special function in accordance with the principles of oneembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In one suitable embodiment of the present invention, one or more displayscreens of an interactive television application may be partitioned intodisplay cells. For example, in one suitable approach, an entiretelevision display screen may be partitioned into cells. The cells maybe any suitable size and the cells may be any suitable shape. The cellsmay be located at any suitable location on the display screen. Each cellmay contain any suitable brand mark of a particular television channel,program guide, program guide service provider, program guide operator,program guide programmer, television service provider, digital musicprogrammer, company, product, service, radio station, web-site, or anyother suitable entity. Brand marks may be any suitable text, image,video, or a combination of these elements that may serve to identify anentity. For example, brand marks may be logos, trade-marked identifiers,icons, or any other suitable brand identifiers. In one suitableapproach, non-specific and customer specific logos may be displayed. Theinteractive television program guide may display its own brand mark oneach display screen. The brand marks may be selectable.

The user of the interactive television application may navigate aboutthe screen by, for example, pressing arrow keys on a remote controldevice. The cell to which the user navigates may become the cell “infocus.” The interactive television application may denote a cell asbeing in focus by, for example, displaying a highlight around the cellin focus. The highlight may be any suitable highlight such as a yellowring.

In one suitable embodiment, if a web-site (e.g., in the form of aUniversal Resource Locator (URL)) is associated with a particular cell,the interactive television application may activate a web-browser andthe associated web-site may be displayed. If a television channel isassociated with a particular cell, user equipment (e.g., user televisionequipment, user computer equipment, or any other suitable userequipment) may tune to the television channel with which the cell isassociated. Currently broadcasting programming video on the televisionchannel may be scaled and displayed in that cell. The video may bescaled to fit the size of the cell. When the cell is in focus, and videofrom the corresponding channel is being displayed, the brand mark thatmay have originally been displayed in the cell may be removed.

The user may select the cell in focus by pressing a “select” key or an“ok” key on the remote control. Pressing the “select” key or the “ok”key while a cell is in focus may perform an action related to that cell.For example, selecting a cell with a television channel associated withit may cause the interactive television program guide to display thevideo of the currently broadcasting television program of the associatedtelevision channel in full screen. Selecting a cell that has a web-siteassociated with it may launch a web-browser that will automaticallydisplay the content of that web-site. Selecting a system operator'sbrand mark may take the user to a customer service feature. In anothersuitable approach, selecting a system operator's brand mark or a programguide's brand mark may take the user to a menu screen associated withthe selected brand.

An illustrative interactive television application system 10 inaccordance with the present invention is shown in FIG. 1. Illustrativeinteractive television application system 10 may comprise a mainfacility 11, a television distribution facility 15 and user televisionequipment 18. Main facility 11 may include a program guide database 13for storing program guide information such as television program guidelistings data, pay-per-view ordering information, television programpromotional information, or any other suitable program guideinformation. Main facility 11 may also include a brand mark database 14for storing brand marks. Brand marks may include text, images, graphics,video, a combination of these elements, or any other suitable form ofbrand mark. For example, brand marks may include logos, brand names,advertisements, electronic coupons, or any other suitable brand marks.Information from databases 13 and 14 may be transmitted to televisiondistribution facility 15 via communications link 12. Link 12 may be asatellite link, a telephone network link, an Internet link, a cable orfiber optic link, a microwave link, a combination of such links, or anyother suitable communications link. If it is desired to transmit videosignals (e.g., for a brand mark in video format) over link 12 inaddition to data signals, a relatively high bandwidth link such as asatellite link may be preferable to a relatively low bandwidth link suchas a telephone line.

Television distribution facility 15 may be a facility for distributingtelevision signals to users, such as a cable system headend, a broadcastdistribution facility, or a satellite television distribution facility.

The program guide information transmitted by main facility 11 totelevision distribution facility 15 may include television programlistings data such as program times, channels, titles, descriptions, orany other suitable program listings data. Transmitted programinformation may also include pay program data such as pricinginformation for individual programs and subscription channels, timewindows for ordering programs and channels, telephone numbers forplacing orders that cannot be impulse ordered, etc. The brand markinformation transmitted by main facility 11 to television distributionfacility 15 may include text, images, graphics, video, or a combinationof these elements that may serve to identify an entity. For example,brand marks may be logos, trade-marked identifiers, icons, or any othersuitable brand identifier for any suitable entity. If desired, some ofthe program guide information and brand mark information may be providedusing data sources at facilities other than main facility 11. Forexample, data related to pay program order processing (e.g., billingdata and the like) may be generated by an order processing and billingsystem that is separate from main facility 11 and separate fromtelevision distribution facility 15. Similarly, brand marks may begenerated by a brand mark facility that is separate from main facility11 and television distribution facility 15.

Regardless of its source, brand marks may be maintained on a server 16within television distribution facility 15 if desired. Server 16 may becapable of handling text, images, graphics, video, any other suitableelement, or a combination of these elements. In addition, server 16 maybe capable of providing interactive services such as near video ondemand (NVOD) and video on demand (VOD). Server 16 may be based on oneor more computers.

Television distribution facility 15 may distribute program guideinformation and brand marks to user television equipment 18 or any othersuitable user equipment of multiple users via communications paths 23.Program guide data may be distributed over an out-of-band channel onpaths 23. Brand marks may be distributed using any of a number ofsuitable techniques. For example, text and graphics brand marks may bedistributed over an out-of-band channel using an out-of-band modulator.Video brand marks may also be distributed in this way, although largequantities of video information may be more efficiently distributedusing one or more digital channels on path 23. Such digital channels mayalso be used for distributing text and graphics.

Each component of user television equipment 18 may have a receiver suchas set-top box 19 or any other suitable television or computer equipmentinto which circuitry similar to set-top box circuitry has beenintegrated. For clarity, the present invention is described primarily inconnection with user equipment based on a set-top box arrangement. Thisis merely illustrative. The interactive television application may beimplemented using user television equipment 18 that is based on apersonal computer, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PC/TV),or handheld computing device, etc. If desired, the interactivetelevision application may be implemented using a client-serverarchitecture using user television equipment 18 as a client processorand a server such as server 16.

Interactive television application data (e.g., program guide data,brand-mark data, and any other suitable data) may be distributed toset-top boxes 19 periodically (e.g., once per hour or once per week).Interactive television application data may also be distributedcontinuously or on-demand. A connection may be established to televisiondistribution facility 15 using, for example, communication link 23. Arequest for certain interactive television application data may be sentfrom set-top box 19 to television distribution facility 15. Televisiondistribution facility 15 may respond by sending the interactivetelevision application data that was requested back to set-top box 19using communications link 23. Main facility 11 may include a processorto handle information distribution tasks. Each set-top box 19 maycontain a processor to handle tasks associated with implementing aninteractive television application on set-top box 19. Televisiondistribution facility 15 may include a processor for tasks associatedwith monitoring a user's interactions with the interactive televisionapplication implemented on set-top box 19 and for handling tasksassociated with the distribution of program guide information and brandmarks. An interactive television application of the present inventionmay be any suitable application such as an interactive televisionprogram guide. The interactive television application may havecapabilities to implement the features described herein. If desired, theinteractive television application may implement any other suitablefeatures.

Each set-top box 19 may be coupled to an optional video recording device20 (e.g., a videocassette recorder, personal video recorder), or anyother type of recording device so that selected television programs maybe recorded. Each video recording device 20 may be coupled to a display21, which may be a computer monitor, a television, or any other suitablevideo output device. To record a program, set-top box 19 may tune to aparticular channel and may send control signals to video recordingdevice 20 (e.g., using an infrared transmitter) that may direct videorecording device 20 to start and stop recording at the appropriatetimes.

During use of the interactive television application implemented onset-top box 19, television program listings and brand marks may bedisplayed on display 21. Set-top box 19, video recording device 20, anddisplay 21 (if part of a television) may be controlled by one or moreremote controls 22 or any other suitable user input interfaces such as awireless keyboard, mouse, trackball, dedicated set of buttons, etc.

Communications paths 23 preferably have sufficient bandwidth to allowtelevision distribution facility 15 to distribute scheduled televisionprogramming, pay programming, brand marks, and other video informationto set-top boxes 19 in addition to non-video interactive televisionapplication data. Multiple television and audio channels (analog,digital, or both analog and digital) may be provided to set-top boxes 19via communications paths 23. If desired, program guide information andbrand marks may be distributed by one or more distribution facilitiesthat are similar to, but separate, from television distribution facility15 using communications paths that are separate from communicationspaths 23 (e.g., using Internet paths).

Certain functions such as pay program purchasing and the remotemonitoring of certain users' interactions with the interactivetelevision application may require set-top boxes 19 to transmit data totelevision distribution facility 15 over communications paths 23. Ifdesired, such data may be transmitted over telephone lines or otherseparate communications paths. If functions such as these are providedusing facilities separate from television distribution facility 15, someof the communications involving set-top boxes 19 may be made directlywith the separate facilities.

A number of suitable techniques may be used to distribute brand marks(i.e., brand marks in video format) and video information. For example,if each path 23 includes a number of traditional analog televisionchannels, one or more of these channels may be used to support a numberof digital channels. The bandwidth of each analog channel that is usedto support digital channels may support ten or more of such digitalchannels. If desired, brand marks may be provided from server 16 orother suitable equipment at television distribution facility 15 in acontinuously-looped arrangement on these digital channels. This videoinformation provided to set-top box 19 may then be used to determinewhich digital channels to tune to when it is time to display a desiredbrand mark. In an alternative embodiment, brand marks may be provided ondemand. With this approach, set-top box 19 and server 16 may negotiateto determine a channel on which to provide the desired brand mark. Brandmarks that originate from main facility 11 or a separate facility may bedistributed to user television equipment 18 using these or othersuitable techniques or a combination of such techniques.

Brand marks may be downloaded periodically (e.g., once per day) toset-top boxes 19 of FIG. 1 and stored locally. Brand marks may beaccessed locally when needed by the interactive television applicationimplemented on set-top box 19. In an alternate embodiment, brand marksmay be provided in a continuously-looped arrangement on one or moredigital channels on paths 23. With such a continuously-loopedarrangement, a map indicating the location of the latest brand marks maybe downloaded periodically to set-top boxes 19 (e.g., once per day).This allows the content on the digital channels to be updated. Theinteractive television application on set-top boxes 19 may use the mapto locate desired brand marks on the digital channels.

As shown in FIG. 2, the capabilities of server 16 may be provided usingservers 30 located at network nodes 31. Servers such as servers 30 maybe used instead of server 16 or may be used in conjunction with a server16 located at television distribution facility 15.

Another approach to download brand marks to set-top box 19 may involveusing a server such as server 16 or servers 30. Servers may be used toprovide the brand marks on request (e.g., after a set-top box 19 andthat server have negotiated to set up a download operation). Brand marksmay then be downloaded from the server to the set-top box. If desired,the server may provide instructions to the set-top box informing theset-top box where the desired brand marks can be located on a particulardigital channel. The brand marks can be updated periodically if, forexample, the server that is responsible for providing the instructionsfor informing the set-top box of the location of the brand marks is alsoupdated periodically. This example is merely illustrative. If desired,brand marks may be updated by any suitable approach.

In one suitable approach, these processes may be used for brand marksthat include images, graphics, or video information.

Text information for brand marks may be provided to set-top boxes 19using the same paths that are used for distributing program guide data.For example, brand mark data from database 14 of FIG. 1 may be providedto set-top boxes 19 using link 12, television distribution facility 15,and paths 23. The text information may be stored locally in set-topboxes 19 and updated periodically (e.g., once per day). Text informationmay also be provided by server 16 using a continuously-loopedarrangement or on request.

A cable modem may be used to distribute texts, graphics, and videos.Text information, graphics information, and video information for brandmarks may be distributed using any suitable technique.

In one suitable embodiment of the present invention, the interactivetelevision application may display a menu screen or any other suitabledisplay screen on, for example, display 21 in response to a usercommand. The user command may take the form of, for example, pressing a“menu” key on remote control 22 (FIG. 1). A menu screen such asillustrative menu screen 400 of FIG. 3 may be generated and may providethe user with access to various interactive television applicationservices. Menu screen 400 may include various selectable brand marks oftelevision channels, program guides, program guide service providers,program guide operators, program guide programmers, television serviceproviders, companies, digital music programmers, radio stations,web-sites, or any other suitable entity.

As shown in illustrative menu screen 400, the display screen may bedivided into any number of selectable partitions or “cells.” These cellsmay be used to display television content that is currently beingbroadcast, advertisements, brand marks, or any other suitable content.The cells may also be used to display non-specific and customer specificlogos or any other suitable brand mark.

There may be any suitable number of cells in a menu screen. The cellsmay be any suitable size or shape and do not necessarily need to be thesame size or shape as each other.

In one suitable embodiment of the interactive television application ofthe present invention, entities related to television channels, programguides, program guide service providers, program guide operators,program guide programmers, television service providers, companies,products, services, digital music programmers, radio stations,web-sites, customers, and any other suitable entity may be associatedwith any one or more particular cells. In one suitable approach, once anentity becomes associated with a particular cell, the entity may laterbecome disassociated with that cell. Moreover, this entity may becomere-associated with a cell, including the cell with which the entity waspreviously associated.

Cells may be organized or arranged in any suitable way. In FIG. 3, forexample, the cells with which a program guide, a program guide serviceprovider, and a program guide operator/programmer are associated (i.e.,cells 410, 411, and 412, respectively) are lined up in a row along thetop of the screen. Cells that display advertisement information (i.e.,cells 414) are shown to be arranged in a column along the left side ofmenu screen 400. Cells with which a television channel is associated(i.e., cells 416 and 418) are shown to be positioned in the center. Asshown with regard to cells 416 and 418, a plurality of cells may bearranged in a grid. This is merely an illustrative arrangement of cellsin menu screen 400. Any other suitable arrangement of these or othercells may be used. For example, although FIG. 3 illustrates cells thatare associated with similar entities to be adjacent to each other, cellsthat are associated with similar entities may be positioned in any othersuitable arrangement. To make navigation easier, particular arrangementsmay be used. For example, in one suitable approach, television channelnavigation may be made easier by arranging cells associated withtelevision channels adjacent to one another. Any such suitablearrangement may be used.

In one suitable embodiment of the present invention, there may be onecell displayed in the menu screen that is the cell “in focus.” It mayalso be made evident which cell is in focus. This may be accomplishedby, for example, providing any suitable indicator around, or in closeproximity to, the cell in focus. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, ahighlight, such as highlight 420, may be displayed around the cell infocus (i.e., cell 418).

When a cell is not the cell in focus, that cell may display a brand markof, for example, the television channel, program guide, program guideservice provider, program guide operator, program guide programmer,television service provider, company, product, service, digital musicprogrammer, advertisement, radio station, web-site, or any othersuitable entity with which the cell is associated. These brand marks maybe displayed in cells with which the corresponding entities areassociated. In illustrative menu screen 400 of FIG. 3, for example, thecells associated with television channels that are not in focus (i.e.,cells 416) may display corresponding brand marks of the televisionchannel with which the cells are associated.

In one suitable approach, when a cell is in focus, content such astelevision content, links to web-sites, web-sites, or any other suitablecontent may be displayed within the cell. Other information such asinformation regarding the company, the digital music programmer, or anyother suitable entity with which the cell in focus is associated may bedisplayed. In one suitable embodiment of the present invention, when acell that is associated with a television channel is the cell in focus,the currently broadcasting television programming of the televisionchannel with which the cell is associated may be displayed in the cell.The broadcast content may be scaled to fit within the boundaries of thecell. One suitable way in which television programs may be displayed ina cell is to have the interactive television application cause a tuner(e.g., a tuner at set-top box 19 of FIG. 1), to tune to a correspondingchannel for that cell.

When a cell that is associated with a television channel is in focus andtelevision programming is being displayed in the cell, brand marks ofthat particular television channel may be removed from the cell. Inanother suitable approach, brand marks may be displayed simultaneouslyin the cell with the television programming. These brand marks may bethe same as, or, if desired, different from, the brand marks that weredisplayed when the cell is not in focus. The brand marks that aredisplayed simultaneously with the television programming may be reducedin size such that they are displayed in a portion of the cell. A brandmark that is displayed in a cell simultaneously with televisionprogramming may be transparent (e.g., a watermark). This may allow thetelevision programming to be visible through the brand mark. Any othercontent such as the title of the program, the start time and length ofthe program, or a brief description of the program may also be displayedsimultaneously with the current video, using for example, thetransparency technique described above, or any other suitable techniquesuch as an overlay.

FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of illustrative steps for displayinginformation within cells on a menu screen. At step 442, the interactivetelevision application may determine what type of entity is associatedwith a particular cell. For example, the interactive televisionapplication may determine if a cell is associated with a televisionchannel, program guide, program guide service provider, program guideoperator, program guide programmer, television service provider,company, product, service, digital music programmer, advertisement,radio station, web-site, or any other suitable entity. At step 444, theinteractive television application may determine if the cell is infocus. Based on this determination, appropriate content may be displayedin a cell. If, for example, the interactive television applicationdetermines that the cell is in focus at step 444, the interactivetelevision application may display the appropriate content based on theassociations of the cell and based on the cell being in focus. This mayoccur at step 446. If the interactive television application determinesthat a cell is not in focus at step 444, the interactive televisionapplication may display the appropriate content based on theassociations of the cell and based on the cell not being in focus. Thismay occur at step 448. This process is merely illustrative. Any othersuitable approach may be used by the interactive television applicationto determine what information is to be displayed in each cell on a menuscreen.

When a cell associated with an entity of a particular type is in focus,visible indications such as highlights or icons or any other suitablevisible indications may be used to allow the user to be made aware ofthe association. When a cell is in focus, the indicator may, forexample, be the same color or shape as the indicator of another cellassociated with a similar entity if the other cell were to be in focus.For example, those cells that are currently associated with a sportsrelated entity (e.g., a dedicated sports television channel or atelevision channel currently broadcasting a sporting event) may have ared highlight displayed around the cell when the cell is in focus.Meanwhile, cells that are associated with an entity related to moviessuch as a television channel that is currently broadcasting a movie, oris a dedicated movie channel, may have a highlight resembling a portraitframe displayed around the cell when the cell is in focus. This exampleis merely illustrative.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show an example of how cells that are associated with asimilar entity may be highlighted or indicated in a similar manner whenthey are the cell in focus. Cell 510 of FIG. 5A is the cell in focus. Ahighlight such as highlight 514 may be displayed around cell 510. InFIG. 5B, cell 512 is the cell in focus. For the purposes of thisexample, cells 510 and 512 are associated with similar entities (e.g., atelevision channel currently broadcasting a movie or a dedicated moviechannel). A highlight such as highlight 516 may be displayed around cell512. Highlight 514 and highlight 516 may be substantially similar. Thisexample is merely illustrative. Any suitable approach to indicate to theuser that cells may display content associated with similar entities maybe used.

If the focus were to move from one cell to another, the appropriatehighlight may be displayed around the cell to which the focus moved. If,for example, the entity associated with the cell in focus was a moviestation, and the user commanded the interactive television applicationto move the focus to a cell associated with sports programming, thehighlight may change accordingly.

The interactive television application may allow the user to changewhich cell is in focus by, for example, pressing the appropriate keys(e.g., up, down, left, right) on remote control 22.

In one suitable approach, when the user is navigating through a menuscreen that is currently displaying cells associated with televisionchannels, the interactive television application may allow the user todisplay content associated with a particular television channel on amenu screen by, for example, pressing the appropriate keys on remotecontrol 22 (e.g., the number keys, a jump key, or last channel key). Thecell that displays the content associated with the television channelthat the interactive television application was commanded to display maybe the cell in focus or any other suitable cell.

If a particular cell was the cell in focus, and another cell became thecell in focus (e.g., the interactive television application allowed theuser to have another cell become the cell in focus), scaled video, linksto web-sites, or any other suitable content regarding the entity withwhich the cell is associated may no longer be displayed in the cell.

When a cell becomes in focus, content corresponding to the entity withwhich the cell is associated that was previously not displayed (i.e.,because the cell was not in focus) may be displayed in the cell.

In one suitable embodiment, if there are no cells in a particulardirection in relation to the cell in focus, and the user commanded theinteractive television application to move the focus in that particulardirection, the focus may “jump” or “wrap around” to a selectable cell onthe opposite side of the menu screen or to any other suitable cell. Asshown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, for example, if there are no selectable cellsabove the cell in focus, and the user pressed the up arrow key on remotecontrol 22, for example, a cell at the bottom of the menu screen maybecome the cell in focus.

In FIG. 6A, cell 720, the cell associated with a service provider of theinteractive television application, is in focus. FIG. 6B shows that ifthe user pressed the up arrow key on remote control 22, for example, thefocus may “jump” or “wrap around” to cell 724 on the bottom of the menuscreen.

Another feature of the present invention may allow for the interactivetelevision application to group cells together as “regions.” A regionmay be any suitable collection and arrangement of cells. For example, aregion may include a cluster (i.e., group) of cells that may beassociated with a particular type of entity (e.g., television channels).The cluster of cells may be arranged in a grid. Regions may include oneor more cells.

Grouping cells into regions may facilitate and aid navigation throughmenu screens. By grouping cells into regions, it may be easier todetermine which cells are associated with which type of entity than ifcells were not grouped into regions. Cells associated with similarentities may be grouped together as a region although all of those cellsneed not be adjacent to each other.

The interactive television application of the present invention may giveusers the ability to navigate between different regions. For example,when a user navigates among the cells of a region individually, the usermay press a “region” key on remote control 22 to begin navigatingbetween regions. The user may navigate between regions by issuing anysuitable command (e.g., by pressing the arrow keys on remote control22).

FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C show several cells grouped together as regions. Thedashed line in exemplary FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C indicates which cells aregrouped together as a region. As shown in FIG. 7A, for example, cellsassociated with television channels may be grouped together as a region.In FIG. 7B, for example, cells associated with selectable advertisementsmay be grouped together as a region. In FIG. 7C, for example, a cellassociated with a guide brand may be a region. These examples are merelyillustrative. Any suitable grouping of a cell or cells into a region maybe used. The grouping of a cell or cells into regions may changeappropriately if the association between a cell and an entity changes.

When a user is navigating among regions, a highlight or some otherindicator may be displayed around, or in close proximity to, the cellsof the particular region to which the user has navigated to indicate tothe user which cells correspond to that particular region. Highlight804, for example, is drawn around a region of cells in illustrative menuscreen 800 of FIG. 7D.

In one suitable embodiment, all regions displayed in a menu screen maybe bound by indicators (e.g., highlight) that may identify the cellsthat make up a particular region. The indicators may change in anysuitable way when the user navigates to the corresponding region. Forexample, a red highlight may be drawn around the currently displayedcells that correspond to television channels. When the user navigates tothis region, the red highlight may turn yellow or become twice as wideas it was previously.

In illustrative menu screen 802 of FIG. 7E, for example, a grouphighlight, such as group highlight 806, may be displayed around thecells of regions to which the user has not navigated. A navigationhighlight, such as navigation highlight 808, may be displayed around thecells of the region to which the user has navigated. In this embodiment,a navigation highlight, such as navigation highlight 808, may bedisplayed around a region to indicate to the user to which region theuser has navigated. Group highlight 806 may be displayed around a regionwhen the user has not navigated to that region. This example is merelyillustrative. Any suitable approach to indicate to the user to whichregion the user has navigated may be used.

When a user navigates among regions, there may or may not be a cell infocus. For example, the cell in the middle of the region, or some otherpre-determined cell in that region, to which the user has navigated maybe the cell in focus. An example of a pre-determined cell may be thecell that was the last cell to be in focus when the user was navigatingthrough the individual cells of that region (if the cells of that regionhad previously been navigated through individually). In an alternativeembodiment, the cell in focus may be the cell closest to the cell thatwas previously in focus (i.e., the cell that was previously in focus inthe region from which the user had just navigated).

In embodiments in which the user may be able to navigate among regions,there may be indicators such as indicators 852 shown in illustrativemenu screen 850 of FIG. 8. Indicators 852 may be used to indicate to theuser that there may be more entities currently not associated with cellsdisplayed in menu screen 850. Indicators 852 may indicate that it ispossible for the interactive television application to have theseentities become associated with cells on a menu screen. Indicators 852may be in the shape of arrows to indicate to the user that if the usernavigated in the direction of those particular arrows, these entitiesmay become associated with cells in a menu screen. Indicators 852 may bedisplayed when navigating among regions and when navigating among thecells of a region individually. Indicators 852 may be incorporated intoa highlight or any other indicator. There may be any suitable number ofindicators, such as indicators 852, on a menu screen at any given time.

In some embodiments that use indicators, such as indicators 852, ifthere are no more entities for which information is to be displayed in aparticular direction (e.g., at the beginning or end of a list), theindicator or indicators for that particular direction or directions maynot be displayed. In an alternative embodiment, these indicators maystill be displayed on the menu screen but displayed differently thanother indicators to designate that there are no more entities for whichinformation is to be displayed in that particular direction.

When a user navigates to a region in which there is a cell that the userdesires to be in focus, the interactive television application may allowthe user to cease the navigation of regions and begin navigating throughthe individual cells of a region by, for example, pressing the “region”key on remote control 22.

FIG. 9A is a flow chart of illustrative steps for navigating to any celldisplayed on a menu screen if the user were navigating among cellsindividually. FIG. 9B is flow chart of illustrative steps for navigatingto any region displayed on a menu screen if the user were navigatingamong regions. By way of these steps, any cell on a menu screen may benavigated to.

As shown in FIG. 9A, at any time that the user is navigating among cellsindividually, the user may be given the ability to cease navigatingamong cells individually and begin navigating among regions. This mayoccur at step 912. At step 914, the user may be given the ability tonavigate among cells individually. Once the user navigates to a desiredcell, the user may be given the ability to perform any suitable actionwhen navigating among cells individually. This may occur at step 916.Once the user performs a suitable action when navigating among cellindividually, that action may be carried out at step 918.

As shown in FIG. 9B, at any time that the user is navigating amongregions, the user may be given the ability to cease navigating amongregions and begin navigating among individual cells. This may occur atstep 922. At step 924, the user may be given the ability to navigateamong regions. Once the user has navigated to a desired region, the usermay be given the ability to perform any suitable action when navigatingamong regions. This may occur at step 926. Once the user performs asuitable action when navigating among regions, that action may becarried out at step 928.

In one suitable approach, a particular cell may automatically be infocus (i.e., have a highlight displayed around, or in close proximity tothat cell) when the user begins to navigate through the cells of aregion individually. In another suitable approach, an arbitrary cell(e.g., a random cell) may automatically be in focus when the user beginsto navigate through the cells of a region individually. The cell that isautomatically the cell in focus may, for example, be a cell that is inthe center, or close to the middle, of the region. In an alternativeembodiment, if the user was navigating through the cells of a regionindividually prior to navigating among regions, the last cell to havebeen in focus (when navigating among the cells of that regionindividually) may be the cell that is automatically in focus. The flowcharts of FIGS. 9A and 9B are merely illustrative.

In approaches such as those described above, a particular televisionchannel, program guide, program guide service provider, program guideoperator, program guide programmer, television service provider,product, service, company, digital music programmer, radio station,web-site, or any other suitable entity may always be associated with aparticular cell. In an alternative embodiment, the cells to which theseentities are associated may change. That is, these entities may be ableto become disassociated with a cell and become re-associated withanother cell. Entities may also become re-associated with a cell withwhich the entity was associated sometime in the past. Informationcorresponding to an entity that was previously not displayed on a menuscreen (i.e., information corresponding to an entity that was notassociated with a cell) may be displayed on a menu screen if the entitywith which the information corresponds becomes associated with a cell.

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate how entities may become associated ordisassociated with a cell. FIG. 10A illustrates how an entity may becomedisassociated with a cell and then become associated with another cell.FIG. 10B also illustrates how an entity may become disassociated with acell. FIG. 10B further illustrates how another entity (i.e., an entityother than the entity that was originally associated with the cell) maybecome associated with the cell from which the original entity becamedisassociated.

At step 622 of FIG. 10A, the user may be given the ability to change theassociation between an entity and a cell. At step 624, the associationbetween the cell and the entity may change, based on, for example, auser command. At step 626, the entity that was disassociated from thecell may become associated with another cell.

At step 662 of FIG. 10B, the user may be given the ability to change theassociation between an entity and a cell. At step 664, the associationbetween the cell and the entity may change, based on, for example, auser command. At step 666, an entity (including the entity that wasoriginally associated with the cell) may then become associated withthat cell.

These flow charts are merely illustrative. Any suitable way orcombination of ways for entities to become associated or disassociatedwith cells may be used.

Any suitable approach for allowing entities to become associated ordisassociated with cells may be used when navigating among cellsindividually or navigating among regions.

In one suitable embodiment, information that corresponds to entities forwhich there are no associated cells in the menu screen may be displayedby the re-association process described above. For example, with regardto menu screen 800 of FIG. 7D, a menu screen such as menu screen 1000 ofFIG. 11A may be displayed if, for example, the user pressed the down keyon remote control 22. In this illustration, for example, televisionchannels J, K, and L are now associated with the bottom row of cells(i.e., cells 1001. Thus, information associated with television channelsJ, K, and L may be displayed in the bottom row of cells (i.e., cells1001). FIG. 11A also illustrates that television channels A, B, and C asno longer being associated with the top row of cells (i.e., cells 1010)in illustrative menu screen 1000 of FIG. 11A. Thus, informationassociated with television channels A, B, and C may no longer displayedon menu screen 1000.

If, for example, the user pressed the right arrow on remote control 22with illustrative menu screen 800 having been displayed, thenillustrative screen 1002 of FIG. 11B may be displayed. As shown in FIG.11B, television channels J, K, and L may become associated with theright-hand column of cells (i.e., cells 1003). Thus, informationassociated with television channels J, K, and L may be displayed inthese cells (i.e., cells 1003). FIG. 11B also illustrates thattelevision channels A, D, and G as no longer being associated with theleft-hand column of cells (i.e., cells 1030) in illustrative menu screen1002 of 10B. Thus, information associated with television channels A, D,and G may no longer displayed on menu screen 1002. These examples aremerely illustrative. Entities may become associated and disassociatedwith cells in any suitable way.

In another suitable embodiment, a collection of cells (e.g., a region)may become associated with a corresponding collection of entities. Thisaction may be referred to as “paging.” To command the interactivetelevision application to page, the user may, for example, press a pagebutton on remote control 22. When the interactive television applicationis commanded to page, all of the entities associated with cells of theparticular region to which the user has navigated may becomedisassociated with these cells. Entities that were previously notassociated with these cells may then become associated with these cells.

If, for example, illustrative menu screen 800 were displayed, and theuser pressed the “page” button on remote control 22, illustrative menuscreen 1004 of FIG. 11C may be displayed. As shown in FIG. 11C,television channels A-I may become disassociated with the cells of theregion corresponding to television channels and television channels J-Rmay, for example, become associated with the cells of this region.

If the user commanded the interactive television application to “page,”and there were more cells in a particular region than there wereentities that could become associated with these cells, all of the cellsof a region may not be displayed. For example, if only televisionchannels A-N can become associated with cells, and the “page” button waspressed when illustrative menu screen 800 was displayed, a menu screensuch as illustrative menu screen 1100 of FIG. 12A may be displayed.

As shown in menu screen 1100 of FIG. 12A, the information correspondingto television channels J-N is displayed in the cells of the regioncorresponding to television channels. Because information correspondingto television channels A-I was previously displayed in the menu screen,and the list of television channels only goes up to N, the informationcorresponding to only television channels J-N may be displayed in thecells of the region corresponding to television channels. Furthermore,because only several cells are needed to display the requestedinformation, only several cells are displayed on menu screen 1100.

In another suitable approach, entities may be arranged in any suitablesequence. For example, entities may be arranged according toalphabetical order (e.g., by call letters of television channels),according to fees paid by the entities (e.g., the higher the fee, thecloser to the beginning of the sequence), or according to any othersuitable ordering technique. When the interactive television applicationis commanded to “page” and the number of entities that remain in thesequence is less than the number of cells that are displayed, thesequence may “wrap around” to the beginning of the sequence. This isillustrated for example in FIGS. 12B and 12C.

This is merely an illustrative way of implementing a process in whichthe possibility of non-associated cells is avoided. Any other suitableimplementations may be used. For example, entities may be selected atrandom to become associated with the non-associated cells once the endof the sequence is reached. If desired, the non-associated cells maydisplay any suitable default content such as advertisements, weatherinformation, or any other suitable content.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of illustrative steps for the determination ofhow entities are to be associated with cells if, for example, theinteractive television application is commanded to “page.” At step 1302,a sequence for associating cells and entities may be determined. At step1304, the user may be given the ability to “page.” Once the user“pages,” a determination may be made at step 1306. At step 1306, it isdetermined if there are more cells than entities that are to beassociated with cells. If there are more cells than entities, entitiesmay become associated with cells according to the sequence determined atstep 1302 and based on that there are more cells than entities that areto be associated with cells. This may occur at step 1308. If there arenot more cells than entities, entities may become associated with cellsaccording to the sequence determined at step 1302 and based on thatthere are not more cells than entities that are to be associated withcells. This may occur at step 1310. These steps are merely illustrative.Any other suitable technique may be used to determine how entities areto be associated with cells if the interactive television application iscommanded to “page.”

In one suitable embodiment of the present invention, when the usernavigates among the cells of a region individually, and the userattempts to navigate to a direction in which there are no more entitiesthat are to be associated with the cells of that region (e.g., at thebeginning or end of a list), a region in the direction to which the userattempted to navigate may be navigated to. If, however, there are noregions to which the user may navigate in the direction in which theuser attempted to navigate, the region to which the user navigates maybe the region on the opposite side of the menu screen. That is, thenavigable region may “jump” or “wrap around” to the opposite side of themenu screen. The cells of this region may be navigated amongindividually. In such an embodiment, there may be no cell in focus inthe region to which the user has navigated. In an alternativeembodiment, there may be a cell in focus in the region to which the userhas navigated. This cell may be a cell that is approximately the samedistance from an edge of a menu screen as the cell that was in focus(e.g., in the same row or column of cells). Any other suitable cell maybecome the cell in focus.

In the illustrative embodiments of FIGS. 14A, 14B, 14C and 14D, forexample, the list of television channels begins at television channel Aand ends at television channel I. As shown in illustrative menu screen1400 of FIG. 14A, cell 1402 is the cell in focus. In the illustratedembodiment, if the user pressed the up arrow on remote control 22, forexample, illustrative menu screen 1410 of FIG. 14B may be displayed. Asshown in FIG. 14A, the cell in focus was associated with the firstentity in a list of entities (i.e., television channel A). Because theuser pressed the arrow key in the direction of the beginning of thelist, the cell in focus automatically moved out of the region in whichthe user was navigating and moved to another region. As shown in FIG.14B, the region which includes cell 1412 may be the region to which theuser has navigated. As shown in FIG. 14B, cell 1412 may now be the cellin focus. In another suitable embodiment, there may be no cell in focus.

As shown in illustrative menu screen 1420 of FIG. 14C, cell 1422 is thecell in focus. Cell 1422 is associated with the last entity in a list ofentities (i.e., television channel I). If the user were to press theright arrow key on remote control 22 for example (i.e., a direction inwhich there are no more entities to be associated with the cells of theregion), illustrative menu screen 1430 of FIG. 14D may be displayed.Because there were no more entities to be associated with the cells ofthe region in the direction to which the user attempted to navigate, thenavigable region “jumped” or “wrapped around” to the opposite side ofthe menu screen. As shown in FIG. 14D, the region which includes cell1432 may be the region to which the user has navigated. As shown in FIG.14D, cell 1432 may now be the cell in focus. In an alternate embodiment,there may be no cell in focus. These examples are merely illustrative.Any suitable embodiment in which the navigable region or focus may movefrom a region to another may be used.

In embodiments in which entities may become associated and disassociatedwith cells, each region may have one cell that will be in focus when theuser is navigating among the individual cells of that region. This onecell may be any suitable cell. If an entity becomes disassociated with acell and re-associated with the cell in focus, information (i.e.,corresponding to the re-associated entity) that would otherwise not havebeen displayed if the cell was not in focus may be displayed (e.g.,currently broadcasting a television program).

In menu screen 1500 of FIG. 15 for example, cell 1502 may always be thecell in focus if the user has navigated to the region corresponding to,for example, television channels. If menu screen 400 of FIG. 3 weredisplayed and the user pressed the right arrow on remote control 22 forexample, menu screen 1500 may be displayed. In this embodiment,television channel F becomes associated with cell 1502. As a result,scaled video for television channel F, for example, may be displayed incell 1502. A highlight such as highlight 1504 may be displayed around orin proximity to the cell in focus.

As shown in FIG. 16, when the user navigates to a cell, an overlay suchas overlay 1604 may be displayed. Overlay 1604 may be any suitable sizeand may be displayed over any suitable portion of a menu screen. In FIG.16, for example, overlay 1604 is displayed over the bottom portion ofmenu screen 1600. An overlay such as overlay 1604 may be displayed overany portion of a menu screen such that the cell or region to which theuser has navigated may still be visible. That is, where the overlay isdisplayed may differ depending on the cell to which the user hasnavigated.

For example, when the cell to which the user navigates is on the leftside of the menu screen, the overlay may be displayed on the right sideof the menu screen. By way of this arrangement, the view of the cell towhich the user has navigated is not obstructed. As shown in FIG. 16, forexample, content for cell 1602 (i.e., the cell to which the user hasnavigated) is displayed in overlay 1604. As shown, overlay 1604 isdisplayed on the opposite side of menu screen 1600 with respect to cell1602.

In an alternative embodiment, when an overlay such as overlay 1604 isdisplayed, the overlay may always be displayed on the bottom or anyother pre-determined portion of a menu screen. In embodiments in whichthe overlay may be displayed over a portion of a cell or displayed overan entire cell, the overlay may be partially transparent. By way of thisarrangement, the cell (or the portion of the cell) that the overlaycovers may be partially visible.

An overlay such as overlay 1604 may display any suitable content. Suchcontent may be operator specified promotional content. For example, ifthe user were to navigate to a cell associated with an advertisement, anoverlay displaying pictures or information of the associated product maybe displayed.

In another suitable embodiment, the brand mark displayed in a cellbefore that cell was navigated to may be displayed in an overlay. Forexample, if the user navigates to a cell with which a television channelis associated, content other than the brand mark (e.g., scaled video)may be displayed in the cell. A brand mark (e.g., icon) of thattelevision channel may be displayed in an overlay. In FIG. 17 forexample, the cell to which the user has navigated, cell 1702, isassociated with television channel E. As shown in FIG. 17, scaled videois displayed in cell 1702. The icon of television channel E is displayedin overlay 1704.

These examples are merely illustrative. An overlay may be displayed overany portion of a menu screen and may display any suitable content.

When a cell is in focus, the interactive television application mayallow the user to initiate a special function, access interactivecontent, or both. The special function, interactive content, or both maycorrespond to the entity with which the cell in focus is associated.Special functions may be initiated by, for example, pressing keys onremote control 22. Interactive content may also be accessed by, forexample, pressing keys on remote control 22. Such keys may be an “info”key, a “menu” key, an “ok” key, a “select” key, or an “enter” key.

The user may also be provided with the option to “escape” at any time.The “escape” option may allow the user to quit the interactivetelevision application. The user may also select an option such as the“escape” option to return to the interactive television application if,for example, a main menu screen is not being displayed. In analternative embodiment, an option such as the “escape” option may beselected to display the display screen that was displayed just prior tothe display screen that is currently being displayed. Any other suitableoption such as a “back” key or a “return” key may be pressed to displaythe display screen that was displayed just prior to the display screenthat is currently being displayed.

The user may be provided with an opportunity to view informationassociated with a cell by, for example, pressing the “info” key onremote control 22. Pressing the “info” key while a cell is in focus maycause the interactive television application to display informationabout the entity associated with that cell. The information may bedisplayed in any suitable format. Links to information, menus, otherinteractive content, or special functions may be provided. Theinteractive television application may allow the user to navigate to alink (e.g., by pressing the arrow keys on a remote control) and “select”the link. The interactive television application may allow the user to“select” an option by, for example, allowing the user to press the“select” key, the “ok” key, or the “enter” key on remote control 22. Anindicator such as a highlight may be displayed around or in closeproximity to the link to which the user has navigated. The interactivetelevision application may allow the user to cease displayinginformation by, for example, pressing the “info” key again, selecting alink to return to a main menu screen or any other display screen, bypressing the “escape” key, or through any other suitable action.

The information displayed after the “info” key is pressed may bedisplayed in full screen or in a portion of the display screen. In onesuitable approach, the information may be displayed in a portion of acell, or in an entire cell.

When the “info” key is pressed and the cell in focus is associated withan advertisement, information regarding the advertised product, programor service may be displayed. This information, for example, may includea description of the advertised product, program or service, informationregarding purchasing the advertised product, program or service,descriptions of related products, information regarding corporateentities related to the product, program, or service (e.g.,manufacturer), or any other suitable information.

When the “info” key is pressed and the cell in focus is associated witha program guide provider, television service provider, televisionprogrammer, or any other suitable entity, suitable information regardingthe associated entity may be displayed.

When the “info” key is pressed and the cell in focus is associated with,for example, a television channel, information regarding the televisionchannel such as the call letters, names of the chief executive officers,location of the station, and the program operators may be displayed. Inan alternative embodiment, information regarding the currently broadcastprogram may be displayed alone or simultaneously with informationregarding the television channel. Information regarding the currentlybroadcast program may include the title of the program, the start timeof the program, the length of the program, the rating (G, PG-13, R,etc.) of the program, information regarding the cast of the program, adescription of the program, reviews, or any other suitable information.

As shown in FIG. 18, illustrative display screen 1800 may be displayedwhen, for example, the user presses an “info” key on remote control 22.In this illustrative example, the “info” key was pressed when the cellin focus was associated with television channel E. As shown in FIG. 18,the information displayed after the “info” key is pressed may bedisplayed in full screen or in any suitable portion of display screen1800 such as portion 1802. In portion 1802, information such asinformation 1804 may be displayed. Links to more information, menus,other interactive content, special functions, and other suitable linksare shown as links 1806. A brand mark of the entity for whichinformation is shown in portion 1802 may also be displayed. For example,the icon for television channel E is displayed in portion 1808 ofportion 1802.

The preceding examples are merely illustrative. Any suitable informationregarding the entity with which the cell in focus is associated may beprovided in response to any suitable user action and may be provided inany suitable way.

An alternate user initiated action may be initiated when, for example,the user presses the “menu” key on remote control 22. Pressing the“menu” key when a cell is in focus may cause the interactive televisionapplication to display any suitable menu. The menu may be displayed inany suitable format. Links to information, menus, other interactivecontent, or special functions may be provided. The interactivetelevision application may allow the user to navigate to a link (e.g.,using the arrow keys on a remote control) and “select” the link. Theinteractive television application allow the user to “select” an optionby, for example, pressing the “select” key, the “ok” key, or the “enter”key on remote control 22. An indicator such as a highlight may bedisplayed around or in close proximity to the link to which the user hasnavigated. The interactive television application may allow the user tocease displaying the menu by, for example, pressing the “menu” key againor by pressing the “escape” key.

The menu displayed after the “menu” key is pressed may be displayed infull screen or in a portion of the display screen. In one suitableapproach, the menu may be displayed in a portion of a cell, or in anentire cell.

When the “menu” key is pressed when a cell is in focus, a suitable menuscreen for the entity associated with that cell may be displayed. Forexample, if the cell in focus is associated with a television channelwhen the “menu” key is pressed, a menu screen for that particulartelevision channel or family of channels (e.g., ESPN, ESPN2) may beprovided. Such a menu screen may have some or all of the elementsdisplayed in other menu screens. Examples of these elements may beindicators and highlights. A menu screen particular to a specifictelevision channel may have listings of the television programs that arecurrently being broadcast and future television programming. Thelistings may include program titles, scheduled broadcast times, programdescriptions, and any other suitable information. These examples aremerely illustrative. The interactive television application may provideany suitable menu screen for an entity when a key such as the “menu” keyis pressed. Any suitable elements may be displayed on a menu screen.

The interactive television application may also provide the user withoptions when the user presses a key such as the “menu” key. Theseoptions may be selectable. The user may command the interactivetelevision application to “select” an option by, for example, pressingthe “select” key, the “ok” key, or the “enter” key. An indicator such asa highlight may be displayed around or in proximity to the option towhich the user has navigated.

When the cell in focus is associated with, for example, a televisionchannel, the menu screen may provide the user with options to record thecurrent program on that channel, order a channel or program (e.g.,Pay-Per-View services), set a reminder for a future program, make achannel a favorite channel, or any other suitable options. If, forexample, a menu screen is provided for a product, options may beprovided such that the user may order the product or obtain moreinformation about the product. These examples are merely illustrative.Any other suitable option may be provided.

As shown in FIG. 19, illustrative display screen 1900 may be displayedwhen, for example, the user presses a “menu” key on remote control 22.In this illustrative example, the “menu” key was pressed when the cellin focus was associated with television channel E. As shown in FIG. 19,the menu displayed after the “menu” key is pressed, menu 1902 may bedisplayed in full screen. Menu 1902 may also be displayed in a portionof display screen 1900. In menu 1902, any suitable information may bedisplayed in a portion of menu 1902 such as portion 1904. Any othersuitable information may be displayed in portion 1904. Selectableoptions 1906 are also shown in menu 1902. A brand mark of the entity forwhich information is shown in menu 1902 may also be displayed. Forexample, the icon for television channel E is displayed in portion 1908of menu 1902.

The preceding examples are merely illustrative. Any suitable menuregarding the entity with which the cell in focus is associated may beprovided in response to a user initiated action.

When a cell is in focus, the interactive television application mayallow the user to initiate a special function corresponding to theentity associated with that cell. The interactive television applicationmay also allow the user to access interactive content associated with acell in focus. For example, the user may press the “ok” key, the“select” key, or the “enter” key on remote control 22 to cause thefunction to begin. In one suitable embodiment, the interactivetelevision application may allow a user to initiate a special functioncorresponding to the entity associated with the cell in focus by, forexample, pressing the “ok” key, the “select” key, or the “enter” keyregardless of whether or not a menu or information screen is currentlydisplayed. In another embodiment, a special function may only beinitiated if a menu or information screen is not displayed.

When the cell in focus is associated with, for example, a televisionchannel, and an “enter” key on remote control 22 is pressed, thetelevision program currently being broadcast on that television channelmay be displayed in full screen. Any intermediate steps betweendisplaying the scaled video to displaying the video in full screen maybe taken. Examples of these intermediate steps include an explodingwindow, displaying an animated or static graphic, and displaying theicon or logo of the television channel before displaying the televisionprogram.

The interactive television application may allow the user to select thecell in focus by pressing the “select” key, the “ok” key, or the “enter”key on the remote control. Pressing the “select” key, the “ok” key, orthe “enter” key while a cell is in focus may cause the interactivetelevision application to perform any suitable action. For example,selecting a cell with a television channel associated with it may causethe interactive television program guide to display the video of thetelevision program currently being broadcast on the associatedtelevision channel in full screen. Selecting a system operator's brandmark may take the user to a customer service feature. This customerservice feature may be a separate menu. The customer service feature mayhave information such as the location of offices of the system operator,hours of operation, contact information, and any other suitableinformation. Similarly, selecting any brand mark may take the user to acustomer service feature for the associated entity. In another suitableapproach, selecting a system operator's brand mark or a program guide'sbrand mark may take the user to a menu screen associated with theselected brand.

When a cell that is in focus has a web-site associated with the cell(e.g., the entity associated with the cell is a company with a web-site)and the user selects that cell, the interactive television applicationmay activate a web-browser that may display the web-site associated withthat cell.

In one suitable approach, the interactive television application mayprovide users with a “walled-garden.” A “walled-garden” may be apre-determined group of content that may be provided to the user. Forexample, if a cell is associated with an advertisement, a link to a“walled-garden” related to the advertised product, program, or servicemay be provided. For example, if the entity associated with a cell isCompanyXYZ, the user may be able to navigate within the “walled-garden”of the CompanyXYZ domain. That is, the user, after selecting the link tothe “walled-garden” for CompanyXYZ, may be able to only navigate amongweb-sites associated with CompanyXYZ, and associated entities. This ismerely an illustrative use of a “walled-garden.” Any other suitable useof a “walled-garden” may be implemented.

When the user selects a link to a walled-garden, a display screen suchas illustrative display screen 2000 of FIG. 20 may be displayed. Adisplay such as display 2000 may be displayed in full screen as shown,or in a portion of a display screen. As shown in FIG. 20, awalled-garden may display content related to the entity associated withthe cell in focus. Such content is content 2002. The walled garden mayalso display selectable links to other related content and associatedentities. Such links are links 2004.

The activation of a web-browser by the interactive televisionapplication is merely illustrative. For example, graphics editing,word-processing spreadsheets or any other suitable applications may beactivated.

The preceding examples of the interactive television applicationproviding the user with information, an information screen, a menuscreen, or any other suitable display may be used. Any suitable approachto provide the user with information, an information screen, a menuscreen, or any other suitable display may be used. Any suitable approachto provide the user with suitable options or a way to initiateadditional functionality may be used. The preceding examples of thefunctions associated with specific keys on a remote control are alsomerely illustrative. The initiation of any function or the display ofany display screen or information may be associated with any key on aremote control. Any function or the display of any display screen orinformation may also be initiated by issuing any other suitable commandto the interactive television application.

The interactive television application may display indicators in a cell,or in close proximity to a cell, to notify the user that the user mayaccess interactive content or initiate a special function associatedwith that cell. These indicators may be displayed when a cell is infocus or when a cell is not in focus. In the illustrative display screenshown in FIG. 21, for example, indicator 2102 and indicator 2104 maynotify the user of an opportunity to access an information screen andaccess a menu screen, respectively. The indicator indicating that theremay be an information screen associated with a cell, indicator 2102, maybe in the shape of an “i” as shown, or any other suitable shape.Indicator 2104 may also be in any suitable shape such as an “m” asshown. For example, an indicator displayed around or in close proximityto a cell may blink or be a pre-determined shape or color to notify theuser that the user may access interactive content or initiate a specialfunction associated with that cell. These examples are merelyillustrative. Any suitable indicator may be displayed to notify the userthat there may be interactive content or additional functionalityassociated with a cell.

FIG. 22 is a flow chart of illustrative steps that may be taken toinitiate a special function. At step 2202, a cell is in focus. At step2204, the user may be given the ability to initiate a special function.Once the user initiates that he would like to initiate a specialfunction, the special function may be initiated at step 2206. Thisexample is merely illustrative. Any suitable approach to initiate aspecial function may be used.

Thus, an interactive television application with mosaic browsing isprovided. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the presentinvention can be practiced by other than the described embodiments,which are presented for purposes of illustration and not of limitation,and the present invention is limited only by the claims which follow.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method for presenting a video mosaic display, themethod comprising: generating, for display on a user equipment device, aplurality of cells for displaying media assets, wherein each cell isassociated with one of a plurality of entities; receiving a first usercommand to change an entity associated with a first cell of theplurality of cells to a new entity; in response to receiving the usercommand to change the entity associated with the first cell to the newentity, transmitting an instruction to display in the first cell a mediaasset associated with the new entity; determining if a second cell ofthe plurality of cells is associated with a same type of entity as thenew entity; and in response to the determining, generating anotification indicating the second cell is associated with the same typeof entity as the new entity.
 22. The method of claim 21, whereingenerating a notification comprises generating a first region highlightaround the first cell and the second cell.
 23. The method of claim 22,wherein the first cell and the second cell are non-contiguous cells inthe video mosaic display.
 24. The method of claim 21 further comprisinggenerating a media asset in the first cell in response to a userselection of the first cell.
 25. The method of claim 21 furthercomprising generating a brand mark in the first cell.
 26. The method ofclaim 21, wherein the type of entity is selected from the groupconsisting of content providers, advertisements, website providers, andprogram guide brands.
 27. The method of claim 21 further comprising:receiving a third user command to re-associate the first cell with aprevious entity; and in response to receiving a third user command,transmitting an instruction to display a media asset associated with theprevious entity in the first cell.
 28. The method of claim 21 furthercomprising: receiving a user selection of the first cell; and inresponse to the user selection, generating a website or a link to awebsite within the first cell.
 29. The method of claim 21 furthercomprising: receiving a user selection of the first cell; and inresponse to the user selection, generating a full screen display of thecell.
 30. The method of claim 21, wherein the entity is selected fromthe group consisting of: a content provider, a program guide, a programguide service provider, a program guide operator, a program guideprogrammer, a product, a service, a company, a digital music programmer,a radio station, and a website.
 31. A system for presenting a videomosaic display, the system comprising control circuitry configured to:generate, for display on a user equipment device, a plurality of cellsfor displaying media assets, wherein each cell is associated with one ofa plurality of entities; receive a first user command to change anentity associated with a first cell of the plurality of cells to a newentity; in response to receiving the user command to change the entityassociated with the first cell to the new entity, transmit aninstruction to display in the first cell a media asset associated withthe new entity; determine if a second cell of the plurality of cells isassociated with a same type of entity as the new entity; and in responseto the determining, generate a notification indicating the second cellis associated with the same type of entity as the new entity.
 32. Thesystem of claim 31, wherein generating a notification comprisesgenerating a first region highlight around the first cell and the secondcell.
 33. The system of claim 32, wherein the first cell and the secondcell are non-contiguous cells in the video mosaic display.
 34. Thesystem of claim 31, wherein the control circuitry is further configuredto generate a media asset in the first cell in response to a userselection of the first cell.
 35. The system of claim 31, wherein thecontrol circuitry is further configured to generate a brand mark in thefirst cell.
 36. The system of claim 31, wherein the type of entity isselected from the group consisting of content providers, advertisements,website providers, and program guide brands.
 37. The system of claim 31,wherein the control circuitry is further configured to: receive a thirduser command to re-associate the first cell with a previous entity; andin response to receiving a third user command, transmit an instructionto display a media asset associated with the previous entity in thefirst cell.
 38. The system of claim 31, wherein the control circuitry isfurther configured to: receive a user selection of the first cell; andin response to the user selection, generate a website or a link to awebsite within the first cell.
 39. The system of claim 31, wherein thecontrol circuitry is further configured to: receive a user selection ofthe first cell; and in response to the user selection, generate a fullscreen display of the cell.
 40. The system of claim 31, wherein theentity is selected from the group consisting of: a content provider, aprogram guide, a program guide service provider, a program guideoperator, a program guide programmer, a product, a service, a company, adigital music programmer, a radio station, and a website.